


When the World Shifts

by Uniasus



Series: When the World Shifts [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Headcanon, Heroes, Made Up History, Paris - Freeform, Serious Injuries, Women Being Awesome, but it's a weird one, little research, terriosits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 05:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5730931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette leaps into action when she sees smoke from her bedroom window. Paris is under attack, but she's not sure Hawk Moth is the one behind it. He's never caused so much damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the World Shifts

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, this chapter is a retelling of the Paris Attacks in Nov 2015 set in the Ladybug world. I am not French, I do not live in Europe, and my information of that night is limited to Facebook updates and Wikipedia. I did my best to treat the attacks with respect the deserve, they were devastating, and they hit Ladybug and Chat Noir hard for a variety of reasons. If you have a direct connection to the events in November and don't wish to read this chapter, that's fine. You can skip to chapter 2 - when it's out. It will be tastefully recapped. I just wanted to warn people if they find it a triggering thought.
> 
> Moving forward, underlined words are in-text author notes in the form of hover text, if you want to read them.

9:20 pm.

She had just gotten out of the shower, still wrapped in her robe, when she looked out the window of her room just in time to see smoke billow from the direction of the Stade de France.

“Tikki! Transform me!”

Tikki zoomed towards her from the bed, heading straight for Marinette's earrings. They were Ladybug and out the roof just as she heard the TV her parents were listening to make an announcement about breaking news.

Ladybug didn't like this. Something felt off. Akuma attacks had never been this late before, nor as violent. Sure, large amount of people had been in danger before, the Eiffel Tower had been cut in half, but no akuma had wanted to _destroy_ the city. 

The smoke still spiraled towards the sky, thick and black.

She landed on a nearby roof top in time to hear her compact beep.

“Chat? Where are you? It looks like a bomb went off at the Stade de France. This akuma-”

“My Lady, there's been a shooting on Bichat. I'm there.”

“Two akumas?”

“I don't know. It happened right in front of me. But they didn't look like akuma, just regular humans.”

“Regular-” her eyes tracked motion on the ground near the stadium. Something wasn't right about a person. Their face was covered in rouge and they were playing with something in their jacket. The person looked up and Ladybug drew in a sharp intake of breath. It wasn't rouge badly applied, it was a sign of someone possessed. 

“Ladybug-”

“Chat, it's an akuma.” She started running across the roofs to get to the guy quickly. “He's hasn't changed, it's just his face and he's not drawing attention to himself.” 

She was just above him now. Ladybug angled her compact so Chat could see. 

“That's not normal. Ladybug, be careful.”

“I will.” She jumped off the roof just as the bomb exploded beneath her.

* * *

Ladybug woke to the sound of sirens and screams. She tried to push herself up, but her arms collapsed under her. There was cement against her cheek and she tried to piece together what had happened. She had jumped, and then there had been a burst of air and flame. Ladybug vaguely recalled hitting the side of the building she had just jumped off of before everything went black. She guessed she had then fallen to the ground.

The ground itself was charred and the air smelled like a pig roast. She tried to push herself up and this time she managed to keep her shoulders off the ground.

Immediately she knew it wasn't a meal she was smelling. Three feet from her were a handful of body parts.

* * *

It took her longer then it should have to get over the shock. She was Ladybug! Paris needed her! But all she felt was the terror of Marinette. What was happening?

Eventually, she pulled herself up.

_Suicide bomber._ The phrase filtered through her head. An akuma had possessed a man and then had him kill himself. No, not just himself. She looked around. There were a lot of bodies.

Swallowing hard, she looked around for Chat Noir. It wasn't like him to not be here, but hadn't he said something about a shooting? Hawk Moth had been quiet for months, he must have been planning this. 

She needed information.

Ladybug spotted officers setting up a perimeter around the stadium. There was a soccer game, but all the fans were now streaming out of the gates and the police were doing their best to guide the crowd. She looked around for someone in charge, someone not helping with crowd control. A TV news van caught her eye.

Stumbling, she made her way towards it. She had to have hit her head, things were fuzzy and she needed to keep a hand on the wall to walk. 

The cameraman saw her first. He waved his hands widely and then pointed behind the anchor, who then turned around to see her.

“Ladybug!” The anchor ducked under a police barrier and ran towards her. Ladybug didn't care if the camera was still running, having someone help her was a huge relief.

Back in range of the camera, the anchor asked what happened. 

“The bomb-the second one-I saw him too late - leaped into the explosion.” She ignored the gasps of the man and woman. “Please, news-what's happening?”

Her miraculous beeped, but she had time. Ladybug allowed the news anchor to lead her to the back of the car. The cameraman followed them, still filming, and Ladybug couldn't find herself angry enough to ask him to turn it away.

“There's been a couple of attacks.” The woman dug around in one of the van's drawers and pulled out a first aid kit and a bottle of water. She opened the latter and passed it to Ladybug, who took it thankfully.

“The theory is it's a coordinated terrorist attack. There've been two suicide bombings here at the stadium, and two shootings in the street. Here, hold this to your forehead.”

Ladybug took the gauze and pressed firmly. She hadn't realized she was injured, she was just aware of her body's aches, but the anchorwoman had already gone through two moist toilettes and they were both stained a vibrant red. 

There was a sharp ring and the anchor cursed as she dug out her phone. Her eyes widened at the text. “Another shooting, rue de Charonne. And another suicide bomb too on Voltaire.”

Ladybug stood up, trying to keep her swaying to a minimum. These people were infected with akuma, or at least the bombers were. It was her job to find them and purify them before more deaths. She hardly thought the akuma of the bomber who had injured her was going to cause any more trouble. Her earrings beeped again.

“Ladybug, what are you doing?!” The woman tried to get her to sit, putting pressure on Ladybug's shoulders. 

It took effort, but Ladybug threw her off. Magic strength. It was probably the only thing that kept her alive from the blast.

“Thanks-for the water-but I gotta - save Paris.”

“Ladybug, you're injured!”

She glared at the woman and mustered the strength for a full sentence. “Yes. But that's not going to stop me from preventing more deaths.”

The phone beeped again. “Three men just open fired at the Bataclan theatre,” the woman whispered. 

Ladybug nodded. That's where she'd go. 

Her miraculous beeped a final time. She had to leave, change back, and feed Tikki. “I need to go, do you have any food?”

The cameraman wordlessly pulled out a candy bar from his pocket and handed it to her. The anchorwoman shoved a take-out bag into her hand. “Take my dinner. I can get more later, and you'll need it more.”

“Thanks.”

Ladybug swung her yo-yo out and launched herself into the sky.

* * *

Two blocks over, she hid behind an air conditioning unit and released her transformation. Instantly pain assaulted her and she slipped sideways. Marinette heard a voice, but it was a full minute before she could put it to the red blob in front of her nose and identify that blob as Tikki.

“Marinette! Marinette!”

“ 'm fine Tikki.”

“No, you're not.”

“Doesn't matter, we have work to do.”

Tikki didn't argue.

* * *

Tikki knew about concussions and was pretty sure Marinette had one. Transformed as Ladybug, she could take more damage but it always presented itself later. Marinette had passed out, cheek flat against the gravel roof. Five minutes, just enough time to eat and regain a bit of energy, and then she'd wake up the girl and Ladybug would take to the streets again.

Munching on the candy bar, Tikki looked out over Paris.

The city had gone dark in the center, no doubt a reflex from WWII. _Turn off the lights so the bombers couldn't see the city,_ she could just see grandparents telling their kids.

There were still centers of lights, crime centers. They stood out in red and blue splotches, some of them with the extra white of spotlights and ambulances. No doubt the police force was stretched thin, Ladybug and Chat Noir had never been needed more.

Tikki looked over her shoulder at the still passed out Marinette.

She was a strong girl, the kwami had chosen wisely, but she had never suspected a situation like this. Multiple akuma possessions? Tikki had seen it before and it had wrecked the world. It was too soon, much too soon for her to see it again. She had been hoping, if it came again, it would be three Ladybugs down the line. Not the next one.

Tikki didn't know what to do. If this was like the last time...well, what they had done then wasn't even possible to do again. Not that she would want to. It had stopped the wars, yes, but it had left her alone and in a position the kwami had never wanted to be. 

She was on her own.

* * *

Marinette woke to another explosion. She looked towards the Stade de France in horror. Three bombs. Why was Hawk Moth doing this?

Her sudden upright position had her head spinning. She closed her eyes till it passed then looked around for Tikki. The kwami was near her knees, french fry halfway to her mouth.

“Are-are we good, Tikki?”

“I have the energy to transform. But you should eat something too. There's a hamburger.”

Marinette pulled out the paper wrapped sandwich. She wasn't hungry, quite the opposite in fact as the scent of grease and ketchup made her stomach roll. Three bites, that was all she could manage. Thankfully Tikki didn't pressure her to eat more.

After a quick transformation into Ladybug, she stood up. In her super hero guise with the faint hum of magic in her suit, she felt a hundred times better. But she still knew she wasn't a hundred percent. Fifty percent was more like it, maybe less. Her head still hurt, she felt faint and nauseous. 

Her compact beeped and she opened it to Chat's face. 

“My Lady – you're hurt!”

“I'll live.”

“What happened?”

“A bomb.”

“Should I come help you?”

Ladybug looked towards the stadium. Police and EMTs were milling around providing first aid or directing the panicking crowd. They didn't need her help and she hoped three bombs was enough for Hawk Moth. She didn't need to stay on the off chance of spotting another akuma suicide bomber. Besides, if Chat was calling her, he probably needed her help.

“No – I – there's nothing – to be done here.”

If he noticed how hard it was for her to string a sentence together, she was glad he didn't call her out on it. The thin press to his lips and worry in his eyes could be caused by anything.

“Why – did you call?”

“The Bataclan has turned into a hostage situation. The police asked me to sneak inside. There's three shooters, if they're all possessed, I could use the help.”

Ladybug nodded, then winced. Head movements. Not the best. Arg, running and swinging to Chat was going to require a lot of effort to not pass out again.

“I'll be there – fast.”

“Be quick, but don't rush my Lady. I want you to stay in one piece.”

With a half smile, she shut off the communication.

She looked towards the next roof. It was a distance she knew she could cover, she had done it before, but it looked daunting. Taking a few steps back, she started running and then leaped across. Her somersault landing made her head spin, but she continued on, biting her cheek to keep her focused.

Chat Noir needed help. Paris needed help. Ladybug was duty bound to give it. She could help herself later.

* * *

Ladybug washed herself quickly in a fountain before finding Chat talking to the police in front of the theater. The water in the base had turned red completely. She hadn't realized she had been bleeding that much, her red suit made blood hard to spot, but since the water eventually ran clear off her fingers the bleeding must have stopped. 

It was a good call. Chat gave her a relived smile when he saw her and the officers didn't seem to notice she had been injured. 

“Plan?” she asked stepping into the circle.

“We have a trained hostage negotiator standing by. You guys are akuma experts, but we have no indication they're involved here, so let us do the heavy lifting.” Ladybug bit her cheek, but allowed the officer to continue. “What we need in information. Where are the shooters standing in the building? Where are the hostages? How are they positioned? What the shooters are saying to each other and what they're doing. Any information you can give us.”

“They won't hear my pawfalls.” Chat crossed a claw over his heart. 

Ladybug rolled her eyes. Still, it felt good to see Chat make a joke. The air was too heavy.

“It's okay if they see you, they cut the phone lines. That's another thing we'd like you do do, if you can safely.” The officer pulled out a cell phone and dropped into Ladybug's hand. “We want them to talk to us. Tell us what they want. If you can't give it to them safely, just drop it in front of them.”

She nodded, folding her fingers over the phone. Her earrings went off and she jumped before frowning. She had just transformed! A swing through half of Paris was not enough to have depleted her Miraculous so long. 

They beeped again.

“My Lady?” 

Chat's voice cut through her thoughts. She shook her head, regretting it instantly as it made her skull throb and her vision blur. “I need – a minute – and sugar.”

Chat frowned at her and scanned her up and down real quick. Whatever he saw that the officers didn't worried him. 

“Officers, do you have a bit of sugar? A cookie perhaps, or a candy? It's the purrfect thing for a short term energy boost. We've been running around the city tonight and Ladybug came from the Stade de France.”

Two officers pinned her with piercing glares, questions about the status there on their tongue, but the commander cut them off. “We can ask later, but we have no time.” He looked at the superheros. “The one bit of information we have from them is every five minutes, they will kill a hostage.”

Ladybug paled. “I can-”

“Eat when we're inside,” Chat finished, giving her a firm glare. “But we need something.”

A woman officer pulled out a protein bar from her pocket. “This is much better than sugar.”

Chat snagged it from her hand and stuffed it in a pocket. Ladybug's earrings beeped a third time. Without asking permission, he grabbed her around the waist, extended his baton, and landed them on a nearby roof.

“You're not well, my Lady.”

“I-”

Her Miraculous beeped a fourth time. Panicked, she looked around for a place to hide. There was a small roof garden here, complete with a few potted trees. It wouldn't completely hide her, but in the dark and with her back to Chat, her identity should still be secret.

She collapsed behind the nearest one as her transformation let out. Suddenly, all her pain came roaring back. Being Ladybug, she had to worry about sore ribs, warm skin, and her dizzy head. As Marinette, her injures felt a thousands time worse. Her head throbbed and her vision swam even while she was sitting still and her chest hurt each time to rose as she sucked in air.

“Marinette?”

“Mm?” She couldn't bother opening her eyes to check on Tikki, but the kwami simply sounded tired, not injured. 

“Sleep again, okay? Just while I eat.”

“But-” 

Five minutes. Every five minutes, someone would be killed. That's what the officers on the sidewalk below had said. If she napped, she'd be dooming someone to die. She could muster the energy to meet that time limit, she knew it.

“I'll be as fast as possible. I promise.”

“Mmkay.”

* * *

Tikki drunkly flew to Chat Noir a few steps away. He caught her in his hands, claws delicately cupping her. 

“Are you okay?”

“Just tired.”

“And...and Ladybug?”

Tikki couldn't help but wince.

“I should help her. I know she wants to keep our identities secret but-”

“NO!” Tikki shouted. 

Chat jumped, ears perking up in shock. “If she's injured-”

“Let her be, she will heal. There's more damage that can come from you learning her identity then waiting to wrap her chest.”

Chat frowned, looking towards Marinette's slumped over form. “I doubt that, she needs a hospital.”

“If you force her to go, she will resent you Chat Noir. Any chance you have of her returning your affections will be gone.”

He blanched, the black mask making his face even paler.

“I choose her because she is dedicated and tireless, as well as in possession of a good heart. Don't get in her way, Chat. It would be better if we can finish up quickly. I can't keep the transformation for long.”

“I noticed. How come?”

Tikki looked over her shoulder at Marinette before sticking her hand out. “Let me eat while we talk.”

Chat guiltily pulled out the power bar and offered it to her. It wasn't sugar, but at this point Tikki was okay with anything. Cookies were her favorite food, but the officer had been right. The protein bar was best in this situation.

She ripped open the packaging while she started talking. “I'm using more energy then normal, healing her, reducing her pain, and holding the transformation with all that entails.”

“I already noticed the Miraculous lasts less, but how much?”

Tikki swallowed a bite, frowning. “Depends. Roughly half the time, but if she does something that requires me to cover up the pain...” She sighed, sending a sad look toward Marinette. “Lucky Charm is out of the question Chat. And she's so determined to do this, I'm doing minimal healing because that takes so much energy.”

Chat frowned. “It would be worth her wrath to take her to -”

“This task is quick and easy. After this, I'll convince her to go.”

He didn't look any happier at that. “What can I do to...to help you during this mission? To make things easy for her?”

They both looked towards Marinette's slumped form between the branches. From here, all you saw was her black hair.

“Don't let her use Lucky Charm. Keep the fighting to a minimum. Quick movements are hard for her, and protect her head and torso. Don't let her do a lot, but don't let her know that. She needs to be useful. She needs to be Ladybug.”

“Okay. Take the lead, without bringing it up.”

“Thanks, Chat Noir.”

“I still think she should see a doctor.”

Tikki wanted to say _me too,_ but someone had to make Marinette's wishes known and the kwami was the best bet.

* * *

“What's the plan?” Chat Noir asked as they crouched on the lip of a roof top next to the theater. 

Ladybug scanned the building and then pointed to a broken window on the second story. “There.” A few people were huddling on the roof, but right now they were safe. They had to get inside to be able to tell the police what was going on.

The window had been blown out, most likely by a bullet, but they could see that no one was near it now. They could see a mass of darkness with small moving dots on the other side of the wall, most likely the hostages and terrorists. This window however was clear. 

“It hasn't been - five minutes yet?” She hated the idea of her rest coming at the life of a Parisian. 

“No. It hasn't been.”

Chat's voice was clipped, tone flat. Ladybug snapped her head around to ask what was wrong and noticed he was intently watching the building. Yeah, she understood. This was a serious matter, more so then their average akuma attack. 

“On three.” 

Not that she actually counted. After being partners for a year, they were in sync with each other to the point that during a battle they breathed at the same pace. She had asked Tikki about it once and gotten an answer somewhere between the bond of battle companions and their Miraculouses resonating. Regardless of the reason, it meant she and Chat were perfect partners and could often communicate non-verbally through the simplest of gestures.

Together they breathed in, then out. After the third inhale, they leaped. Ladybug was through the window first, Chat Noir landing on his toes beside her.

A shot went off, followed by a cry of sorrow that was quickly cut off.

Ladybug felt a stab of guilt run through her, a pain greater than her broken ribs. 

“Come on.”

She led them through the building until they found themselves in the rafters of the mezzanine. The seats below were torn apart, some entire rows blasted away with black scorch marks on the ground. There were bodies; between seat rows, slumped over an arm rest, face up with staring eyes in the aisles.

Ladybug could put together an understanding of what had happened. Open fire into the seated concert goers followed by a few hand grenades.

“It's awful - should have been - faster.”

“You came as quick as you can.”

“I could have gone faster.” She could have ignored the pain in her shoulder, pushed through her wheezing breaths, spent less time cleaning herself up.

“Ladybug, you did your best. Don't get caught up in not being purrfect.”

She couldn't muster up the energy to berate his pun, too horrified by the sight below. 

There was a man walking the mezzanine below them. He looked out of the windows, out of which Ladybug could see the flashing lights of police cars. Two others where on the stage below, standing on the edge in front of a band set up and pointing rifles at maybe 70 people kneeling with their hands on their heads in the front isle. There was a woman, with blood seeping from underneath her body, on the edge of the group.

She felt a part of her start sobbing, but there was no time for that now. Ladybug's eyes darted from place to place, taking in the details to report to the police soon and have nightmares about later. Ladybug didn't cry. Ladybug was a hero who had a job to do.

“I'm going closer,” she whispered to Chat. 

He tried to grab her, but missed. She landed off and had to scramble for balance, but didn't catch the attention of the three gun toting men. This vantage point gave her a better look of the way out of the theater, from both the front and the sides. One of the men on the stage checked his watch.

She had seen their faces better from Chat's position. Bronze skin, black hair. Both had beards. They also did nothing to hide their conversation from the hostages. They didn't need to, they spoke in Arabic. Ladybug recognized the language from a few foreign films she had watched recently. Neither of them had a dark blush over their faces – not akuma possessed men but actual humans who decided to do this.

One of the bombers at the stadium had been possessed, but what if the other two hadn't been?

The thought made her sick to her stomach.

From here, she could see the third man better. He walked between the two front windows, gun pointed at the hostages even as his eyes kept an eye on the police, and now ambulance, that were outside. He turned his head to shout something to his partners and Ladybug saw it – that deep rose hue across his cheeks and nose.

She went to get Chat's attention, she stared to lift an arm and then winced as it twinged. Chat had been watching her like a canary anyway. Ladybug knew that he knew she was injured. Tikki had told her she hadn't said a word of how or how much, but Chat knew her too well. They always knew when the other was off.

Ladybug settled for miming a mask, bringing the index and middle finger of both hands to either side of her nose before sweeping them to the side, and then jabbing a finger at the man on the mezzanine. Chat signed back with his thumbs crossed and his palms flapping, butterfly. She nodded, slow and elongated. She told herself it was to make sure he caught it, but it was really because it reduced the chance of a stab of pain.

Chat was at her side in a moment.

“You cat out and tell the police. I'll drop the phone,” he whispered.

“I'm not-”

“You're not leaving me, my Lady. You're doing your job. Besides, to make sure it survives the fall we can't drop the phone from here. It has to be closer to the floor and I'm the sneakier one.”

She gave him a dry look, sure he was just babying her, but Chat was also right. With the silent footfalls of a cat and a black costume he was harder to see. With a pout, Ladybug nodded.

“One minute. Then I'm - coming back - for you.”

“One minute.”

Ladybug launched her yo-yo and headed back towards the broken window. Chat Noir was in the window getting ready to leave the theater as soon as Ladybug landed on the opposite roof. Had she really been that slow? Grimacing, she didn't wait for Chat to land before swinging down to the street level. 

The officers circled her in a heartbeat and she found herself disorientated by the sudden noise, lights, and crowd. She felt faint and heard her Miraculous beep. Someone bumped into her side, sent pain shooting down the left side of her body and swinging around to her front. Getting air into her lungs was harder then it should be, the world was fuzzy, she didn't know what the officers were saying-

There was a warm hand in the small of her back, connected to a warm body on her right and supporting her. Ladybug knew it was Chat – the feel of his costume, the familiar breath in time with hers, the voice in her ear. It took awhile for her to gain clarity, he had turned the officer's attention on to him and was informing them of what they had seen.

Quiet and hunching into herself, Ladybug was content with fading into the background of the conversation. Her earrings beeped again, Chat glanced at them to check the spots, and he quickly wrapped up the conversation.

“I'll leave it in your professional hands. I'm paw-sitive you can get all three of them.”

And then she was in the air, clutching Chat Noir as hard as he clutched her as he used his baton to take them to the rooftops. He set her down gently, as if she were glass, and found the sentiment grating. Yes, she was injured, but she could still protect Paris. 

Ladybug shoved Chat's hands away, ignoring his hurt look. 

"Ladybug, you need to go to the hospital."

"Not until Paris is safe."

"It is, for now. There is nothing we can do."

There was a flurry of sound from below and both of them rushed to the edge. They didn't have a clear view, but they watched the theater they had scoped out minutes before get swarmed by the police. 

"See, my Lady? Things are taken care of. There is nothing left for us to do, unless you are a doctor under your mask?"

No, she wasn't. But she wished she was. Still, Ladybug knew Chat Noir was right. She need medical attention, and these attacks allowed her an explanation for her injures without raising eyebrows. 

Still, these attacks had been off. Akuma possessions, but no effort to take their Miraculous? What was Hawk Moth up to?

"A sweep through the city. If nothing happens, I'll pretend to be a victim at the stadium. They'll send me to the hospital." Ladybug wanted to end her declaration on a strong note, but full sentences like that had taken more strength then it should have. Her earrings beeped, echoed by Chat's ring.

"Okay. But we need to eat first, recharge. There's a cafe down the street. I'll get us something to eat super fast, for us and our kwamis, and then we'll do a sweep. And then I'll make sure you get taken care of."

She puffed up in anger, but the concern in his eyes had her deflate fast. Honestly, this was the type of concern she liked seeing from him. Much easier to handle compared to his habit of taking hits for her. 

Ladybug nodded and the grin that lit Chat's face almost made her heart break. Relief, concern, joy, gratitude. She turned her head away and missed his jump. 

There wasn't anything to hide behind on this roof. There was a hatch she opened, leading to a ladder that in turn ended in what appeared to be an equipment room for the building below. Her earrings beeped again and she looked around frantically for Chat. 

There he was, jumping onto an adjacent roof. She waved, waited for conformation that he saw her, and lept into the hatch. Ladybug managed to get behind a water heater before the transformation wore off.

“Ladybug?” she heard Chat ask as he landed.

“Here.” Marinette stuck out her hand, pale and pink and bare now that her costume was gone. Chat closed her fingers on the top of a bag, but he didn't peak around the heater to her relief. 

Instead, she heard the sound of his transformation releasing, followed by someone settling on the other side of the cylinder. 

Like before, now that she was no longer Ladybug her injuries screamed at her. She had to take several deep breaths to center herself before opening the bag to see what Chat brought her. A croque-monsieur  sandwich, complete with two cookies for dessert. 

“Thank you, Chat.” She took a bite. Cold, but that was okay. What was more worrying was the fact that she knew she should eat, but nausea in her head and stomach kept her to a nibble. Tikki at least was already through the first cookie.

“You're welcome. How are you feeling?”

“Okay. You?”

“Tired. These attacks have been very stressful. I want to go home and sleep for a day. Maybe I can pretend to be sick tomorrow.”

She smiled. Marinette felt like calling in sick for a full week.

Her stomach wouldn't let her finish her sandwich, but she managed a few bits and then pick off pieces of the bread. Tikki finished both cookies and shot a sad, worried look at Marinette when she noticed the teen wasn't eating. The kwami didn't say anything though and instead started in on the other side of the sandwich. It said a lot about her energy levels that she was eating it.

“Ready?” Marinette asked once Tikki finished eating.

“Yes,” she heard Chat answer.

A minute later, they were both transformed and started on the patrol.

* * *

They had been close. So, so close to finishing a patrol. Chat Noir had kept his claws crossed their entire city loop that the actives earlier that night were the last. Apparently it had simply attracted bad luck. 

They came across an akuma. 

The normal kind, crazy outfit, intense costume, that almost made him cry in relief. The possessed people before had made his tail stand up straight and the hair on his head fluff up. This, this woman crying in the street about making Muslims pay and attacking everyone with darker skin with rolls of fabric from her felt was familiar, normal. So was her sudden awareness of them.

“You heroes,” she spat. “You're supposed to protect Paris!” 

Chat winced. He felt guilty enough already, but the barb seemed to hit Ladybug harder. Her face went paler then it already was and he cursed his bad luck. He wanted this night over so she would agree to get seen.

“Give me your Miraculous!” The tailor below continued to shout. “You aren't worthy of them. Give them to me, and I'll make sure Paris is really protected!”

A bolt of denim wrapped around a young Middle Eastern woman, Chat could see it tightening painfully. He turned to Ladybug, desperate to make a plan. Something that involved her staying on the sidelines, waiting for Chat to break...what seemed to be a T-shirt in the woman's hand. But Ladybug was already jumping off the roof and he quickly followed.

Ladybug dodged one, two, three propulsions of cloth. Normally, she'd move around the area more, but she kept to a five foot radius. It made her easy to hit. Something brown caught her, Chat heard her gasp in pain.

Fury took over his mind. He called Cataclysm and ripped his claws in the material holding Ladybug, running towards the tailor until he snagged half of the bits of fabric samples hanging from her waist. One of them was the denim trapping the Middle Eastern woman – she dropped to the ground and then ran away.

Chat didn't care though, he rushed to Ladybug's side to check on her. She was trying to push herself up, but her arms didn't seem capable of it. 

“Ladybug,” he crouched down, hand hovering over her shoulder.

“Fine,” she wheezed. “Stop her.”

“Let me show you a true hero!” the possessed tailor screeched. Another piece of fabric extended from her belt, shooting towards the pair of them. 

Chat scooped up his partner and rolled them away. He ignored her sounds of pain, worries for later, because for now he had more pressing issues. Chat nestled Ladybug into the doorway of a closed jewelry shop. 

“Stay here, I'll take her out.”

“Give – minute. I'll help.”

“You will not.” He surprised both of them with the command in his voice. Softer, brushing her bangs out of her face, Chat continued. “I get it, my Lady. I do. I wield a Miraculous too. Paris is our home, our territory, our charge. And while I admire you dedication, you aren't fit for this fight. Stay here, let me handle it, and then you can purify the akuma.”

“But-”

“No buts. You can't even stand right now, can you?”

She didn't answer, but her eyes burned with a need to fight.

“No Lucky Charm. No moving, until I rip the fabric in her hands.”

She stared defiantly back at him.

“Please, Ladybug. At this rate, she will take your Miraculous and then where will Paris be? Please.” Chat cupped her cheek and she didn't turn away the touch. Instead, she closed her eyes and slumped into the wall behind her.

“Okay,” she whispered. 

That was all he needed to hear.

In their absence, the street had cleared out of people. The tailor had taken to trusting fabric through the windows on the second story of the surrounding stores, personal apartments that screamed at every broken window. 

“Where are the rats?” the woman screamed. “They need to pay for tonight! Muslim shit!”

“That only rat I see here, is you.” Chat dived under a green fabric, rolling forward to get closer to the tailor. It was harder then he thought it would be to get close, he had to dodge and weave, jump and dive. In the end, he extended his baton to swipe her feet from under her and in her surprise jumped on the tailor's chest.

They struggled over the fabric in her hand, a shirt she refused to let go of. 

“It's Thomas's! You can't have it!”

The shirt ripped and out of it came a toxic butterfly. Chat pounced, collecting it in his cupped palms before running over to Ladybug. While she had stayed put, she had refused to stay sitting. She stood tall and proud in the doorway, but he was acutely aware of the fact she purified it in silence. 

“My Lady?” he asked, stepping towards her slowly as she watched the white spirit fly away. She had difficultly stringing sentences before, had something else happened now? Could she no longer suck in the air needed for speech?

“Fine. Just – tired.”

A little more, he thought, but he didn't press. 

She hadn't called for a Lucky Charm, but she shot her yo-yo into the air anyway. It glowed a bright white and Ladybug whisper shouted her name. Small red hearts flowed out from her weapon into the street, repairing windows and asphalt. Most importantly, it turned the tailor back to normal.

As Chat and Ladybug watched, she crawled forward to collect the now whole t-shirt. Her hands trembled, her lips wobbled. Once the fabric was in her hands she brought it to her face and started sobbing. 

Ladybug was at her side in an instant, Chat a step behind, to place a hand on her shoulder. The tailor ignored her, weeping loudly for Thomas.

“What happened?” Ladybug asked.

The answer came between sobs. “Thomas, my husband, he was one of those killed at the stadium tonight. He went to see- to see the game with friends. It's those Muslim’s fault, their all terrorists. They're to blame for everything tonight.”

“Not true-”

Ladybug's words were cut off by a strong gust of wind, hotter then it should be for November. Chat looked around for the source and found it in a form on a nearby rooftop encased in flame.

Another akuma.

He looked quickly to Ladybug. Her earring had two spots, but even if she had five he knew she couldn't fight. And there on her face was the dawning realization that she knew she couldn't either.

It didn't stop her though. Slowly, putting a hand on Chat's shoulder to help her up, Ladybug stood up straight. Chest out, feet in a wide stance, she looked ready to take on the world.

He fell more in love with her that second and felt more determined then ever to protect her this night. 

“Stay here,” he said, but she ignored him. 

The figure wasn't looking at them, Chat wasn't sure it knew they were there as it looked towards the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug's yo-yo wrapped around his legs, binding them and pulling him to first to the roof and then over the edge to the street below.

Chat launched himself forward, ready to pull away anything that might be possessed, relieved that Ladybug hadn't done anything else.

He was Chat Noir, the Miraculous Chat Noir, and he'd be a poor hero indeed if he couldn't protect his Lady tonight. Hissing, he attacked.

* * *

Four. Four akuma had possessed citizens who were angry about the attacks and were dead set on making those responsible pay. One of them, an old man who threw caramels, had taken a look at Ladybug's yellow skin and black hair and called her a terrorist. He had gone after her relentlessly, throwing her into a building and knocking her out. 

Chat had thought her dead for sure, but had caught her shallow breathing and the rapid decrease of spots on her earrings. From four to one in ten seconds. He had turned his back on her before she could transform, handed Tikki one of the many cookies he had gotten at the cafe, and waited until Ladybug was groggily sitting up before giving her the akuma to purify.

Ladybug needed a hospital hours ago, even with Tikki's efforts to heal her and keep down the pain, she was swaying on her feet.

“The hospital, my Lady. Please.”

“Sweep-”

“We just did one,” he lied. “No akuma showed up this time. Please.”

She nodded.

The plan had been for her to act as a victim from the three bombings at the Stade de France, but it was late. Those who had been there and not trapped by the rubble were already gone and Chat refused to fake bury Ladybug and wait for someone to find her. No, he was taking her directly to the hospital.

Chat wrapped her arms around his neck and hooked his right hand under her knees. She only weakly held on to him, so he forwent the idea of using his baton and used his other hand to clutch her close. Instead he ran, fast as he could, to the nearest hospital.

He ended up having perfect timing. Once he was outside of the ER door, her Miraculous did the sudden jump from all to nothing again. He had just enough time to place her gently in a wheelchair and push it towards the automatic doors. The light of her transformation back to normal was hard to see in the harsh lights over the door and coming in through the windows. The nurse at the desk hadn't even looked up from her desk until the wheelchair had rolled into the lobby. She hadn't seen Ladybug, from what Chat saw, just the girl who was sitting injured in the wheelchair. 

Chat watched from the shadows as the nurse rushed to the wheelchair, calling over her shoulder for help.

Ladybug would be okay. His own body was screaming at him, but he knew from experience it was nothing beyond a bruised bone or two. He highly doubted there would be school tomorrow, or that his schedule photo shoot would still happen. Tomorrow he could sleep and heal.

“Stay strong, my Lady,” he whispered to the hospital doors before heading home.

**Author's Note:**

> Longest chapter I have ever written! Dang, it took forever to write this, even with constant attention.
> 
> So yeah, be prepared for a complicated adventure involving Hawk Moth, Volpina, stolen Miraculous, identity reveals, and a Paris that will never be the same. And maybe Mesopotamia. Kwami are gods, birthed in Egypt. (in this story) That doesn't mean other ancient civilizations didn't give birth to their own.


End file.
